


every feudal lord needs a loyal handmaiden

by ConvenientAlias



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Mai is around but she's not major, Murder, Political Intrigue, Power Imbalance, Slow Burn, very alternate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 19:58:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15420468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/pseuds/ConvenientAlias
Summary: In the second year of the reign of Ozai, Azula makes Ty Lee her handmaiden.In the first year of the reign of Azula, Ty Lee is named queen consort.This is that and everything in between.





	every feudal lord needs a loyal handmaiden

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Selden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selden/gifts).



It was only a week into the first year of the reign of Ozai as fire lord when Azula told Ty Lee the biggest secret she had ever told her.

“You know Mother killed Grandfather.”

She said it like it was a commonly known fact, but it was obvious she didn’t, actually, expect Ty Lee to know. Ty Lee had been trying all morning to get Azula out of an odd, pensive mood—bringing her to see the turtleducks, for example, and showing her some new flips, trying to make her forget about her grandfather’s death and her mother’s disappearance. These words fell from her lips like a non sequitur, but really it was the first relevant thing either of them had said all day. Ty Lee wouldn’t have broached the subject of Azulon’s death on her own, but of course she was thinking about it. The whole nation was thinking about it.

She said, “What?” And then, because really she had heard and Azula hated repeating herself, “Did she?”

Azula nodded. “They think I don’t know.” She perched on the edge of a fountain, swinging her legs. She had been oddly still all morning, but now, speaking, she was as casual as could be. “But I know everything. You weren’t here the day before Grandfather died, so I didn’t get to tell you. But he was going to kill Zuko.”

Ty Lee’s eyes widened.

“Well, Father was going to kill Zuko.” Azula corrected herself with a shrug. “Grandfather told Father that if he killed Zuko, Grandfather would make him the heir to the Fire Nation. Father would have done it, probably.” Her legs faltered for a moment, then continued swinging. “So Mother must have killed him. To save Zuko.” She grimaced. She’d complained to Ty Lee many times about how Zuko was everyone’s favorite, even though he didn’t do anything to earn it.

Ty Lee thought about what to say to that.

She had long ago stopped doubting that when Azula told her wild stories or made crazy claims they were always true. Zuko, on the rare occasions that they played together, would accuse Azula of lying, but Azula rarely did. Sometimes she would play pranks on Zuko, yes, but even when she lied to Zuko she would look at Ty Lee conspiratorially, like they were in it together, so Ty Lee would always know. She never lied to Ty Lee, and she certainly wouldn’t lie about something like this.

So the story was true. But what to say to it? She was about to ask what had happened to Ursa, needing more information, when Azula spoke again.

“I guess Father can now be Fire Lord without anyone’s permission.” She frowned. “But I think Mother only did it to save Zuko. She’s so foolish.”

Ty Lee said, “I’m sure she would have done it to save you, too.”

This startled Azula. Her eyes gleamed for a minute and then she said, harshly, “That doesn’t matter, Ty Lee. She’s supposed to support Father and the Fire Nation. She’s soft.” She hopped off the edge of the fountain. “I’m glad she’s gone.”

Ty Lee knew better than to contradict her.

* * *

Some people questioned why Azula and Ty Lee were friends, _how_ Azula and Ty Lee were friends. Azula always called these people idiots, but Ty Lee thought it was a reasonable question for those who didn’t know them. She wasn’t much like Azula at first glance. She wasn’t unusually clever or a little bit mean, and besides that, she wasn’t a firebender. And her family, while technically noble, was hardly on the upper rings of Fire Nation society.

Ty Lee wouldn’t exactly know how to answer that question. She couldn’t remember how she and Azula first became friends because she had been too young at the time.

Azula said she could remember. She said she’d been at a party that had lots of noble kids, and all the girls had been trying to get Zuko’s attention, probably on their parents’ orders, with only a few kids bothering with her, three years old and the younger daughter.  She’d snuck away from the party into a back room and there she’d found Ty Lee balancing on a rafter, practicing her acrobatics while no one could see her.

This was her story sometimes. Other times she said she’d been alone in a heavily guarded garden when Ty Lee came tumbling over the wall, and still other times she said they met at a festival when Azula ran away in a crowd. From the changing stories Ty Lee knew Azula didn’t remember either. They didn’t count as lies; both of them knew the stories to be fake. But Ty Lee still liked hearing them. An epic friendship needed an origin story.

Azula never bothered to bring out these stories for anyone else, though. Even when, in the second year of Ozai, she made Ty Lee her personal handmaiden, and a lot of people began asking her. She brushed off the questions of why she favored a daughter of a lower ranked family with haughty looks and insults, as if they weren’t worth her time.

Ty Lee didn’t ask her. She thought she probably already knew.

“You’ll be moving into this room,” Azula said, showing Ty Lee a room adjacent to Azula’s. It was nicer than the one Ty Lee had at home, fancier and spacier (and, she thought, less likely to be invaded by her six annoying sisters). “If you need anything, there are usually servants in the halls. Or you can ring this bell.”

She sat down on Ty Lee’s bed. “You’re my servant now, but you don’t need to run to do small things. You’ll help me dress and undress, help to organize my schedule, and attend to me throughout the day.”

She recited the duties as if they came off some list, which they probably did. Ty Lee knew she was Azula’s first handmaiden. Azula had only mentioned she was going to be looking for one last week. “Father thinks that as a royal princess, it’s time I was better attended,” she said. He’d probably told her exactly what a handmaiden’s duties were and who to choose and how to treat them.

It was a huge honor to be chosen as a handmaiden for a princess, and Ty Lee’s family was overjoyed. Still, Ty Lee could see lines of tension in Azula’s body, as if she was waiting for something to go wrong. Last week, she’d told Ty Lee she was going to be her handmaiden. Told, not asked. Nothing wrong with that—one did not ask one’s subjects whether they would serve you. But she’d seemed tense ever since.

Ty Lee sat down on the bed and bounced. “It’s a nice room.”

 “Well, this is a royal palace.” Azula shrugged, but she seemed pleased. “You’ll have today to settle in. Your duties will begin tomorrow.”

“I’ll try my best!” Ty Lee grinned.

Azula said, “I’m sure you’ll be fine. I chose you because you were suited to the position.” And Azula didn’t make mistakes.

Actually Ty Lee was not entirely confident about the job. For one thing, the fact that it was a job at all—she had duties as a daughter of her family but they were few, and for the most part she roved free and wild, sometimes hanging out with Azula, other times wandering around the city, often stopping at the circus. Staying by Azula’s side wouldn’t be easy, and then there were the official duties too. Though, as it turned out, Azula wouldn’t even let Ty Lee fulfill most of them.

When Ty Lee tried to manage her schedule, she said, “Do you think I don’t know when I need to be where, Ty Lee?”

When Ty Lee tried to help her put her clothes on and her hair up, she said, “I think I know how to put on a shirt. I don’t need you hovering.”

And even her function as a bodyguard felt a little useless. Sure, Ty Lee was capable of taking down an attacker. She’d trained in martial arts for years, and she was an excellent chi blocker. But Azula was the best firebender Ty Lee had ever met, with the possible exception of Ozai himself.

Ty Lee confided her worries in only one person, the only person she thought understood Azula as she did and wouldn’t use the information against either of them. Mai.

“I just don’t really understand why she chose me to be her handmaiden when I barely know how to sit still. Do you know how many meetings I’ve had to sit through so far?” Azula wasn’t invited to the war councils, of course—neither was Zuko—but there were still other meetings she had to attend almost every other day. “I’ve fidgeted in all of them! People already think I’m terrible at it, Mai!”

Mai said, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Why didn’t she choose you? You’re good at…sitting still and stuff.”

Mai shrugged. “My parents would like to know the same thing. They say it’s because I’m not friendly and she doesn’t like me.”

“Oh, Mai…obviously that’s not true.”

“No. Azula likes me. But she doesn’t trust me.” Mai leaned toward Ty Lee. “She chose you because you’re the only person she trusts.”

Ty Lee blinked.

“Do you really not know that?”

“But, but, Azula trusts you.”

“No. She doesn’t. It’s not the same. Besides, she knows I like Zuko. And you don’t really care about Zuko.”

“I’m sure Azula doesn’t dislike you because of a crush,” Ty Lee said earnestly. “I mean, we all know that’s not really serious.” Sure, Azula teased Mai about liking Zuko all the time, but at the end of the day Mai would always choose Azula. She played with Azula, not Zuko. She obeyed Azula when they were plotting pranks against Zuko. And she never defended Zuko when Azula insulted him.

Mai said, “See? That’s why she likes you. You would always put her first.”

“That’s not…” Wait, why was she arguing against this? Ty Lee frowned. “I don’t know. I think anyone would be lucky to serve Azula.”

“Maybe.” Mai shrugged. “I don’t know. Don’t ask me. But I think you’ll be fine.”

People didn’t stop talking about the odd choice. Sometimes Mai’s name came up as an alternative, sometimes the names of other girls from more noble families. It was rare that anyone ever said anything good about Ty Lee, and also rare that they bothered to lower their voice about it when she was in the room.

Azula didn’t bother herself with the rumors except to send out the occasional glare. But one night after a particularly gossip-filled dinner she said to Ty Lee, “Everyone talks about you now, don’t they?”

Ty Lee said, “I guess it’s not that surprising, since I’m your official handmaiden.”

Azula grinned. “So, everyone’s stopped associating you with your sisters. They probably don’t even remember you have any.” She laughed. “Are you enjoying it?”

No, not really. But also….now that she thought about it, maybe a little? “I’m a phenomenon!” Ty Lee said with a grin, which was the end of the discussion.

* * *

Ozai also didn’t approve of Ty Lee as Azula’s handmaiden. But Ty Lee only found out about that later.

* * *

In the third year of Ozai’s reign as fire lord, Zuko was banished. Azula, judging by appearances, didn’t give a shit.

“Father finally realized how useless he is,” she said to Ty Lee, more than once. “It’s about time he had to pay for one of his mistakes. Now he’s out of the way, at least.” She shrugged. “Honestly he’s probably happier outside the Fire Nation. You know he’s never fit in.”

Still.

Azula was eating less, and training harder. In the months since Zuko’s banishment she’d lost weight, and her muscles were turning into wires uncovered by fat. She stayed up late working on letters and essays for her tutor, and whenever she and Ty Lee talked to Ozai, she smiled harder and talked faster, and visibly slumped as soon as he left.

Had Ty Lee the energy, she would have worried about Zuko or tried to talk to Azula about Zuko—did Azula miss him? Did Azula feel bad for him at all?—but as it was, she was too busy trying to get Azula to calm down and sit still for more than five minutes at a time. If she told Azula that she needed to relax or eat more, she was dismissed with insults and scoffing. She had to think of sneakier methods.

“Azula,” she said one evening, “the circus is in town today.”

Azula said, “Yes, I’ve heard.” She was bent over her desk, and didn’t even look up to answer.

“Um, do you think we could go?”

“Ty Lee, we don’t have time to go to a circus.”

“Tumbling is an important part of my fighting style,” Ty Lee said earnestly. “I’ve heard this circus has a really good tumbler. I want to see if he does any things I don’t know how to do—maybe afterwards I could ask him for some tips.”

Azula looked up. “Fine. But we come home immediately afterwards. I still have to write this essay.” She half yawned, then forced it back with a growl. “It’s due tomorrow.”

Ty Lee would have felt sympathetic about this, but Azula’s tutor was a hardass and assigned her essays constantly, especially in the past few months since Zuko’s banishment. She wondered why that was, whether Ozai had told the tutor Azula was likely to be heir now or whether the tutor had realized just what the stakes were in Azula being adept in statecraft. Either way, this wasn’t a rare occurrence, and Azula was driving herself into the dirt. Ty Lee grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair. “Come on, then!”

Truthfully Ty Lee had been to this circus before. In fact, she knew the tumbler already. Every year she tried to take him aside and have a conversation with him, and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. He really was a great acrobat, but he probably wouldn’t have any new tricks. What was more important was getting Azula off the palace grounds and out of her head.

Still, she made sure to sound impressed every time he pulled off a complicated flip or something similar. Azula mostly snorted and muttered to Ty Lee, “You could do better than that.” But when the performing firebenders had their turn, she paid more attention. After the show, she said to Ty Lee, “My firebending teacher never showed me that form.”

“I think it’s a form they made up.”

“Interesting.” She was frowning intently, but not in a stressed way. “You go talk to the tumbler. I need a word with those firebenders’ leader.”

They stayed an extra hour and walked home in the dark. Azula was murmuring about the form until they reached the gate of the palace. Then she paled. “Ty Lee, I still have to write a five page essay.”

“Oh, well, it’s not midnight yet. You could still get it done.”

But as they walked back to the room, Azula ranted. “I’m supposed to be making a hypothetical argument as to why the Air Nomads shouldn’t have been massacred—and then debunking it—that’s ridiculous, everyone knows that Sozin killed the Air Nomads in a fair battle, and even if he hadn’t he would have been justified. They literally kidnapped children. All the historians who disagree are from the Earth Kingdom anyway and…”

Ty Lee waited until they reached the room, Azula’s voice going higher and higher and faster and faster. She said, “Azula, what’s that on your bed?”

“What’s…” Azula turned around. Ty Lee pinched a pressure point on her neck and she collapsed, unconscious.

Ty Lee dragged her onto the bed, took off her shoes, coat and overshirt, and pulled a blanket over her. Azula had been getting hardly any sleep lately. She was in no state to write a paper, especially not a paper where she’d have to argue against the Fire Nation government when all she’d been doing lately was straining to show she could support her father and his war, the area where Zuko had failed.

Ty Lee, on the other hand, hadn’t written a paper in a long time. She attended Azula’s tutoring sessions (she had to be by Azula’s side, after all), but she was never given assignments. And she had fewer qualms about writing a hypothetical argument.

And she was decent at imitating Azula’s handwriting. Azula had sometimes asked her to write notes to people or finish a polite letter, and it would have been odd were her intervention obvious. So this wasn’t much of a stretch.

She got out the textbook Azula was referencing as well as a book of essays by an Air Nomad apologetic and got to work.

You didn’t want to write too good of an argument against an action taken by the Fire Nation, even if it were taken a hundred years ago. That might be reported to Ozai, or at least would get Azula a a punishment from the tutor, who was a harsh man and empowered by Ozai to discipline Azula as he wished. So Ty Lee certainly couldn’t use any of the arguments made by revisionist historians that Sozin had attacked the Air Nomads unprovoked or that it was a one way fight. That would just be offensive. Instead, she took up a more original tack: Noblesse oblige. She would argue that the Air Nomads really had been guilty of horrendous crimes but the Fire Nation as a more powerful kingdom should have been merciful in showing them the error of their ways.

And that, if she was writing in Azula’s absolutist style, was an easy argument to counter. If there was one thing Azula hated, it was undeserved mercy. Ty Lee made a whole paragraph out of that.

She signed Azula’s name at the bottom of the essay. She thought her signature always looked more classically royal than Azula’s, but still, it was good enough, and she doubted anyone would ever notice the difference.

And, having finished this in a period of three hours, she went to bed.

In the morning Azula didn’t mention that Ty Lee had knocked her out, though she was a bit wary. Azula never mentioned things that made her look weak. So Ty Lee did a little revisionist history of her own. “I guess you were really tired last night, the way you just collapsed when you got in. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought you to the circus after all.”

Azula hmphed. She was not dressed yet but she was flipping through the essay. “This is...”

“I just thought I could take some of your work off your hands,” Ty Lee said. “It’s not really cheating. Royals are allowed to delegate.” She winked.

Azula cleared her throat. “Well, you only wrote what I would say. It’s still my thoughts.” She flipped the essay closed and slid it into a small folder. “Very well.”

The tutor liked the essay. He mentioned how Azula could have stated a few points differently, but overall, he said, it showed a remarkable understanding of the ethos of the Fire Nation. Azula smiled and nodded.

Ty Lee had always understood how to speak about, how to write about, Fire Nation patriotism and Fire Nation politics. It was an essential part of knowing how to speak to Azula at all.

* * *

Half a year after Zuko’s banishment, two issues collided at once to threaten Ty Lee’s status as Azula’s sole handmaiden and confidant:

First, Mai was completely desolate. She had stopped coming to visit Azula, and even when Ty Lee got leave to talk to her alone she had little to say. If you mentioned Zuko to her, she would snap. But if you talked about anything else, she didn’t even seem to be listening.

Second, Ozai told Azula that it was about time she got another handmaiden.

“People are jealous,” Azula said. “I mean, they’ve always said I show you too much favor, but now that I’m the heir apparent they’ve really gotten bitter about it.” She smirked. “It doesn’t occur to them that forcing me to give them my attention doesn’t exactly make me like them. Everyone thinks I’m weak.” She examined her fingernails. “Well. Obviously I’ll do anything Father asks. Who should my second handmaiden be, Ty Lee?”

“Well, that’s not really my decision, Azula,” Ty Lee pointed out. And she certainly didn’t want Azula to blame her for making a bad choice.

“Mai’s been bored lately, hasn’t she? With Zuko gone?”

Bored was a mild word for it.

Azula tapped her fingers against the arm of her chair. “Maybe we could give her something interesting to do. Go talk to her. She won’t talk to me.” She sneered at that, at the thought of Mai’s stubbornness, and returned to a book she was reading.

Probably no one but Ty Lee would have read that as concern. But Ty Lee knew Azula—that was the greatest concession to worry she was likely to make. So she got up, bowed and said, “I’m sure Mai will be honored to hear you’re considering her for the position.”

“She should be. Now hurry.”

Mai lived across town. There was talk of her family leaving soon—there was a position opening up in an Earth colony for a high ranked official, and her father was making a bid for it—but as yet, nothing was finalized, and so Mai remained. Ty Lee could get to her house in twenty minutes usually, and today, hurrying as Azula directed her, she made it in fifteen. The servants let her in and even Mai’s parents seemed pleased to see her (now that she was Azula’s handmaiden, they loved it when she visited) but Mai still made her wait almost half an hour before coming down to talk.

At least Mai’s parents gave them privacy.

“I don’t want to hear what Azula has to say,” Mai said stiffly.

“It’s me, Mai. I’m not Azula.”

“So you haven’t come on her orders?”

Ty Lee said, “You’re not being fair. I come here all the time.”

“They said you had business to talk about. I don’t want to be involved in Azula’s business.” Mai met Ty Lee’s eyes. “So what else do you have to talk about?”

“Mai, this is important. Azula is thinking of making you her second handmaiden.”

“Is it an order?”

“She hasn’t decided yet.”

Mai leaned back in her chair. “When my parents leave the city, I’ll be going with them. I can’t be Azula’s handmaiden.”

“Obviously we can talk to your parents, Mai.”

“I can’t,” Mai said. “Tell Azula…” She shrugged. “I don’t care. Tell her to stop bothering me.”

That wasn’t the sort of thing you could tell Azula, though. It was hard to refuse her anything. But after an hour of arguing (in which Mai refused to give an actual reason for her response, but equally refused to change her mind), Ty Lee had to leave defeated.

“So?” Azula said when Ty Lee got back. “What did she say?”

Ty Lee said, “Well, you know Mai. She doesn’t really say that much.”

Azula laughed. “Yes. But will she do it?”

Ty Lee said, “Well, obviously anyone would love to be your handmaiden, Azula. But…I’m not sure Mai is the right choice.”

Azula’s eyes widened. “Really? Why is that?”

“You need people who can represent you well in public. Mai can be too hostile.” Never mind the criticisms that Ty Lee couldn’t even sit still in a meeting or that she was too bubbly for any official position. “Besides, people already say you only choose your friends to serve you and it might be a sign that you could play favorites down the road. I don’t think appointing Mai would help that.”

“I don’t care what people say about me,” Azula said, “as long as they know not to challenge me.”

“Mai is not the right choice,” Ty Lee said again, hands on her hips.

Azula stared. Then she laughed. “Ty Lee, are you jealous?”

“What? No.”

“You know I’ll still like you more than Mai even if she becomes my handmaiden,” Azula said. “The two of you don’t even compare.”

Ty Lee blushed. She knew Azula liked her, but she rarely was willing to acknowledge it.

“Fine, though.” Azula shrugged. “If you don’t want her to be my handmaiden, she won’t be.” She squeezed Ty Lee’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

Three days later, Azula named her new handmaiden. She chose Huiyin Ma, daughter of Jizi Ma, an important noble and retired general. Huiyin was sixteen, a year older than Azula and Ty Lee, and she was a choice that pretty much everyone at court approved off—quiet but pleasant, known to be a strong fighter and a firebender. And she was of much better lineage than Ty Lee.

Ty Lee didn’t know Huiyin that well, and as far as she knew Azula wasn’t close with her. Still, she didn’t object to her. For one thing, she hadn’t been jealous of whoever might be getting the new position in the first place (no matter what Azula might assume. Really. She wasn’t jealous!), and for another, even if she had been, it was obvious that Azula didn’t consider Ty Lee and Huiyin to be equals.

“Ty Lee,” she said one evening, “read over this essay for me. If it comes out well, the Tutor Wei said he’ll see it printed for all the court.” She handed the papers over.

“Your highness, I have some experience with writing and proof reading,” Huiyin pointed out. She stood in the corner, only breaking her silence from time to time. “My father saw that…”

“Ty Lee has experience with my style in particular,” Azula said. She yawned. “If you want to make yourself useful, you can brush my hair. It has a few knots in it, I think.”

Huiyin bowed. “Of course, your highness.”

The fact that she called Azula “your highness” was probably a better sign of the difference between her and Ty Lee than anything else.

Azula dismissed her whenever she could. She’d send her off to the kitchen on a hopeless quest to fetch a pastry that hadn’t been cooked in weeks, or off to some noble to deliver a message that could as easily be carried by any courier in the palace. She still only shared her thoughts with Ty Lee, and often complained about Huiyin when she wasn’t around.

“Did you see her forms this morning? Disgraceful. Her footwork is terrible. Pointless trying to correct her, though. I guess I’ll just have to put up with it.”

“You could always get a different handmaiden,” Ty Lee said one night, when the insults were becoming a bit harsh even for Azula. Mai was safely out of town, and while Ty Lee didn’t dislike Huiyin, she did hate the way Azula was getting to hate her.

Azula only smiled.

The beginning of the fourth year of Ozai’s reign was celebrated with a festival. Azula told Huiyin she had the night off. “Spend it with your friends,” she said, and when Huiyin protested, she said, “I want to spend my night with Ty Lee alone. We have private business. Do you object?”

She raised an eyebrow.

Huiyin flushed. “Your highness will do as she wishes.”

“She seemed weirdly fine with that,” Ty Lee remarked when Huiyin had left.

“She listens to too many rumors,” Azula said. She slipped out of her shirt. “I’m sure you’ve heard them. She thinks we’re having sex.”

Ty Lee had, in fact, heard these rumors.

Azula tossed off her pants as well. Ty Lee turned around. “Uh, Azula, what are you doing?”

“I’m changing,” Azula snapped. “Didn’t you hear me say we have private business tonight?”

“I thought you were trying to get rid of her.”

“I have an important assignment from Father. You’re coming with me. Go put on something dark.”

Ty Lee didn’t have many dark clothes, but she did have one set that was a darker red than the rest. At any rate, it would be better than the pink sari she’d been wearing all day. When she returned to Azula’s room, she saw Azula was wearing a set of black clothing. She hadn’t even known Azula owned any black.

“We shouldn’t be seen leaving,” Azula said. “Come.”

She didn’t tell Ty Lee where they were going, and the route was circuitous. Azula scaled a wall and they walked over rooftops, jumped over alleys. At first passing over the busy festival, then heading further out of the city, towards the outskirts. No one saw them—at least Ty Lee didn’t think so—but it all seemed very unnecessary. Of course she didn’t say so. There was no criticizing Azula.

They stopped on the wall of a compound Ty Lee had only visited once or twice before. It was the home of Jizi Ma.

Azula perched silently.

“Are we…spying on Huiyin?” Ty Lee asked. But Azula shushed her.

Beneath them was an alleyway, and that was where Azula’s eyes were fixed. She said, very quietly, “I don’t need you to help tonight if things go as planned. But if we’re interrupted I might. Keep a watch.”

Ty Lee bit her lip. Azula clearly didn’t want any questions.

They crouched there, waiting, for a long time. Ty Lee could feel the adrenalin in Azula’s body more than in her own, the tension that radiated off her, the determination. What was it that made her so tense? It was a little frightening. She gripped the edge of the wall, indenting the curves of the stone into her fingers. She wanted to take Azula home and put her to bed, or drag her off to the festival to eat some fire flakes like everyone else in the city. A dozen times, she almost asked Azula, pitiful as when they were kids together, if they could leave. A dozen times she forced herself to stay silent.

And then, there were footsteps. Azula stiffened, and Ty Lee looked down. It was a middle aged man with his hair in a topknot, and he was wearing dark clothes like Ty Lee, not clothes suitable for a festival. He paused right beneath where Azula was crouched and called out softly, “Jizi?”

Azula jumped.

She landed squarely on the man’s back and knocked him to the ground. His head hit stone with a crack. Ty Lee, despite having been told she could stay put and should keep watch, jumped down too. But even as she regained her foothold, Azula grabbed hold of the man’s head and sharply twisted. There was another crack, and the man lay still.

It had all been too fast for the man to do more than gasp. No noise to draw attention to their presence. Ty Lee herself held back a scream.

Azula straightened. “The guard should be here in half an hour. By then, we should be gone.”

She pulled Ty Lee down the alley. Their trek back from the mansion was differenthey’d come, but they snuck back into the palace without notice all the same. Ty Lee followed Azula automatically. Thoughts churned in her head, but nothing came out until they were back in Azula’s room and Azula was halfway changed out of the black outfit. And then, all that she said was, “How do you know the guard will go there, Azula?”

“I’m sure they’re there already.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Father will have sent them, based on an anonymous tip.” Azula thrust her hands into a red shirt. Plain red, though, not festive. “Do you have any more questions?”

Yes, of course, obviously. But Azula’s face was an ominous mask of calm, and when her hands emerged from the shirt, they were shaking. Ty Lee said, “This is what the fire lord wants?”

That steadied Azula. “Yes. But we’re never speaking of this again. Understand? You and I stayed in this evening, doing…” She shrugged. “Well, whatever.”

Using Huiyin’s assumption, then. Ty Lee nodded. She went to her own room, and they didn’t speak to each other again that night.

The news broke the next day. Ao Dou, an important official in the treasury, was found murdered near Jizi Ma’s compound. A search of Dou’s office revealed letters from Ma of a treasonous nature, discussing whether in banishing his son Ozai had gone too far, whether he was mentally unstable.

Azula coolly sent Huiyin home. “I’m sure your family needs you in this difficult time. I hope to see your father cleared of all charges.”

Huiyin bowed, a little sloppier than usual. “Thank you for your kindness, your highness.”

That Ma had murdered Dou couldn’t be proven. That he was guilty of treasonous thought and likely of treasonous action was soon cemented from rumor to fact. Ozai played the gracious ruler and sent Ma and his family to a distant colony. It wasn’t quite banishment, but it was close enough.

Azula could have intervened to save Huiyin, who surely was not guilty of her father’s crime. She did not. “The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree,” she said when questioned. “I thought Huiyin a suitable servant, but now it seems she is not. She’s been dismissed from my service.”

And again, Ty Lee was Azula’s only handmaiden.

This time, the noble families were a bit less eager about forcing someone else on her. Azula didn’t bother finding a replacement.

* * *

A Fire Nation citizen could join the army at the age of fifteen, but they only reached their full majority at seventeen. Azula’s seventeenth birthday party, held halfway through the fifth year of Ozai, was going to be one of the biggest events of the decade.

She was more stressed than excited about it. Mai was still living many miles away, and a year and a half after Huiyin’s departure, she still had acquired few friends. Ty Lee was by her side, of course, but the noble kids were beginning to realize Azula was not one for camaraderie. Huiyin’s disgrace was not exactly linked to Azula, but it still had the feeling of a cautionary tale, and besides, Azula made little effort to make friends or even talk to people of her own age. She was making connections with older nobles through her father, but that, for her, seemed to be good enough.

Then there was the fact that Ozai had told her that at the age of seventeen she would be allowed to sit on the War Council.

Again, she had retreated into studying and training, more manically than ever before. Ty Lee couldn’t break her concentration for anything. “If I’m going to be on the War Council I need to be prepared,” she would say, every time Ty Lee told her she could at least take a break. “I’m not going to be stupid like Zuko.”

Zuko.

Usually there was not much news about Zuko, except standard reports on what bases he had checked into at the colonies or news of minor skirmishes with Earth Kingdom armies. Azula tended to read over these reports (she bribed an official to get them to her) and scoff, saying to Ty Lee that Zuko was up to nothing worthwhile as usual, but relax. Ty Lee always wondered whether she relaxed knowing he was well or simply knowing he was far away and wouldn’t come back to disturb Azula’s life.

A couple months ago, though, some bad news had come in. Apparently Zuko had interfered with some mission of Admiral Zhao’s in a manner that resulted in Zhao’s death. Since then, Zuko had been declared an outlaw wanted by the Fire Nation. Much worse than simple banishment.

Azula didn’t talk much about it, of course. But it didn’t exactly make the weight of her coming of age any lighter.

So Ty Lee tried to understand, and let Azula alone, sometimes joining her studies (she wanted to understand as much of Azula’s burden as possible) and other times finding ways to amuse herself alone. Sometimes Azula would tell her she had the evening off and could go do whatever she wanted, but Ty Lee could rarely bring herself to accept. It wouldn’t be very satisfying to go out for tea while Azula was nearly killing herself with work.

And the date approached, and so did the party. And as Azula seemed to care little about the party, much more about turning seventeen, Ty Lee took it on herself as Azula’s handmaiden to make sure what needed to be done got done.

She checked the seating arrangements. She checked the invitations, and faked Azula’s signature on all the important ones. She chose Azula’s outfit for the night with Azula’s approval—the obvious choice for a princess would be something formal but feminine, but Ty Lee chose something more majestically masculine instead. They weren’t trying to present Azula as a beautiful princess at this party, a possible match for hopeful noble boys, but as the potential leader of the country. So Ty Lee made sure the robes she picked out had sharp cut corners at the shoulders and tailored down to a perfect fit at the waist, checking and rechecking Azula’s measurements as she discussed matters with the seamstress. Azula would be presenting herself as powerful, not as pretty.

She discussed the music with the conductor who would be playing—some songs would be calm and celebratory, others more militant and patriotic. She checked that the foods served would include Azula’s favorites but also more widely popular dishes. She oversaw decorations for the hall being used. And, of course, she talked extensively with security. It was expected that Ozai would soon announce Azula as his heir, probably closely following her coming of age, and as the date approached, every rebel with a grudge against Ozai or a torch in their heart for the newly outlawed Zuko grew more and more resentful of Azula, more and more likely to launch an attack. There had been a couple assassination attempts in the past year, though all had been foiled without Azula or Ty Lee needing to actually intervene.

She would report her actions every evening to Azula, who would shrug and nod, only occasionally making a comment. “You know what you’re doing, Ty Lee,” she said. “I’m sure I can trust you.”

The day arrived.

The party started a little before sun down. Azula paced in her room and listened to Ty Lee report on the arrangements. They had scheduled a meeting with Ozai for earlier in the day, but he had been unexpectedly busy. Ty Lee worried he might not actually make it to the party, but she kept her concern to herself.

“Enough, Ty Lee,” Azula said as the hour grew near. “You’ve done all we can. It’s just an event—politicians overestimate their importance.” She gestured to the bed. “Sit down.”

Ty Lee sat.

Azula went to her desk and unlocked a drawer she hadn’t allowed Ty Lee in for weeks. She pulled out a thin wooden box which she placed on Ty Lee’s lap. “For you.”

“A gift?” Ty Lee said.

“Obviously.”

“It’s your birthday, not mine.”

“I’ll be receiving presents from obnoxious diplomats all night. This is for you. Open it.”

Ty Lee did so.

Inside was a dress. It was made of sheer silk, but embroidered here and there with gold threads. The color was more fuchsia than red but still not quite pink. Ty Lee unfolded it to reveal long sleeves and a long skirt but a hole cut out in the midriff.

“Well?” Azula asked. She smirked. “Do you like it?”

Ty Lee ran a hand over the golden embroidery. “It’s lovely.”

Azula patted Ty Lee’s head. “After all the effort you put into my robes, I thought you should have something nice for the party. Now, let’s get ready.”

Ty Lee tried to swallow back her awe at the dress, but she couldn’t help herself. “Azula! Where did you get it? _When_ did you get it?” She’d been around Azula less than usual, it was true, with the party arrangements to take care of, but still.

“Ordered it from the same seamstress as this.” Azula had pulled out her own dress robes, and she was still smirking. “She was so amused that you didn’t know about it. You were seeing her every other day—it was easy for her to estimate your measurements and taste. And of course I offered my own advice. She thought gold wouldn’t be suitable, but my handmaiden should look royal, don’t you agree?”

Ty Lee threw her arms around Azula. “You’re the nicest girl in the world.”

Azula laughed. “It’s just a dress.”

“It’s gorgeous!”

“Calm down. We’re due at the party in an hour.” Azula began stripping. “I’m glad you like my present.”

The party was as crowded as they had expected. Ty Lee stayed by Azula’s side as noble after noble drifted by, offering Azula congratulations, perhaps with an insinuation of a prosperous future as fire lord, perhaps with a hint of flirtation for some of the men. Azula accepted it all gracefully. The smile on her face was surprisingly genuine, and an hour in, Ty Lee realized she had an arm wrapped around Ty Lee’s waist. The stiffness, the invulnerability that Azula usually presented in public, was largely gone.

Instead she laughed and responded to the congratulations optimistically and drank a moderate amount of wine and delicately snacked on the hors d’oeuvres. The ones she liked, she handed to Ty Lee to try. And she murmured to Ty Lee, “It’s going well, isn’t it?”

Ty Lee squeezed her waist back in return.

If there was one annoyance, it was that a couple of the noble boys, usually put off by her arrogant manner and rumors of her cold blooded cruelty, saw that she was in a good mood and seemed to think it was their opportunity to pounce. They would try to pull Azula aside from the main party to chat in a corner, or make overly sexual comments in front of a whole group of nobles. Azula carefully rejected them, but when she had a moment aside with Ty Lee, she sighed. “I thought they’d have the sense by now to leave me alone.”

“They just think you’re beautiful tonight,” Ty Lee said, “which you are.”

Azula shrugged. “Well, duty calls.”

The most annoying boy was named Mo Chou. He tried once, twice, three times to talk to Azula. He wasn’t even from a very important house; Azula dismissed him each time a little more harshly.

Finally he came over while Azula was in the middle of discussing the war with an important general, General Zheng. He said, “I found you again!” as if Azula hadn’t explicitly sent him away the last time.

Azula nodded. “Yes, it seems you did.”

“You must be bored talking to all these old men. Come on—they’re playing a slow dance.” He grinned. Azula hadn’t taken the dance floor once all night, more busy with other things, but there was dancing, and Ty Lee had selected excellent music. This song was more of a tragedy than a love song, but it still held some appeal.

Zheng said, “Oh, I wouldn’t want to bore a young princess.” And it was clear in his eyes—the dismissal, the moment when he saw Azula less as the leader he had been speaking to and more as a silly teenage girl. Azula narrowed her eyes. Ty Lee put a hand on her arm.

“Azula’s busy,” she said. “You’ll have to be patient.” Then, with a vindictive smile, she said, “And she’s promised her first dance to me.”

Then she pulled Azula’s head down—she was always a little bit taller, and tonight she was wearing boots with platform heels—and kissed her gently on the lips.

Mo Chou’s jaw dropped. Zheng laughed. “One must always bend to a handmaiden or a lady in waiting,” he said to Mo Chou. “They have their ways.” Then he said to Azula, “You have good taste.”

Azula said, “I chose my handmaiden carefully.” She put her hand back on Ty Lee’s back. “Of course if she wants to dance, we may, but I was enjoying our conversation.”

“I can wait,” Ty Lee said.

And the conversation between Azula and Zheng continued, Zheng still occasionally chuckling. Mo Chou, muttering, stumbled away. Ty Lee wondered if he was drunk. Someone had spiked the punch, not to mention how the wine was freely flowing. It was too bad Azula couldn’t let loose the same way. Ty Lee sighed. The conversation with Zheng was important, but Mo Chou hadn’t been kidding about it being boring.

There was a boom. Suddenly one of the walls caved in—only made of wood, but it was firm, and yet it broke so easily. Guests screamed. Azula turned from the general to face the hole in the wall. There a man stood levitating a boulder. He nodded once in Azula’s direction, and stone shot toward her.

She dodged, pulling Ty Lee down with her—the stone had been aimed right at her head. A storm of small rocks was headed toward them. Azula cursed. “I’ll distract him. Get close!” She shoved Ty Lee to the side.

Zheng shot fire towards the earthbender, and Azula shot her fire as well, blue rather than orange. She was focused. Ty Lee skirted around the flying stones and fire, edging closer to the earthbender.

“You weren’t invited to my party!” Azula called out. “I’m afraid I’ll have to throw you out.”

The earthbender didn’t respond, but a huge boulder headed toward Azula. She broke it in a blast of flame that left her panting. The general stood beside her. “Who are you? Who sent you?”

Ty Lee inched behind the earthbender. And, as he began to lift another huge chunk of stone, she struck. First the pressure points of one arm, then, as he twisted to attack her, another, finishing with his legs and a strike to the neck that would leave him unconscious. The body fell freely down onto a pile of wood and stone. Ty Lee nodded at Azula. “Did I do good?”

“You did beautifully,” Azula said. She stalked forward. “Guards! Have this man locked up. He’ll be interrogated tomorrow. Tonight is for festivities.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Zheng came to stand at her elbow again. “Impressive, how you two work together.”

“Azula could have taken him down on her own,” Ty Lee said. “But we wanted to get it over with quickly. This is a party, after all.”

Azula said, “A sole assassin from the Earth Kingdom seems odd.” She shook her head. “It can wait. Conductor, a song of victory!”

The music played. Azula offered her hand to Ty Lee. “The victors ought to dance together.”

Ty Lee took her hand. “I’d love to.”

Later, when the party was over, Ty Lee massaged knots out of Azula’s back. “I think you strained a muscle with that bending. You didn’t stretch…”

“I didn’t exactly have time to stretch.” Azula sighed. “What you did tonight…”

“You know I’m an efficient fighter, Azula.” She’d never been tested on the battlefield, but they’d sparred before, and she could sometimes even beat Azula, depending on the day.

“No. I mean the kiss.” Azula touched her lips. “How did you know that would win General Zheng over?”

“Zheng is known to be a philanderer. His most famous affair was several years ago with one of his wife’s ladies in waiting. And he’s made comments about me before.” Ty Lee squeezed the back of Azula’s neck, making her groan. “Now he sees you as a kindred spirit.”

“Joy,” Azula said drily. “Is that…why you did it? It was clever.”

“No. I did it because, well…I don’t like Mo Chou.” Ty Lee put her hands down. “I don’t like any of those boys. They act like they can have you, but…”

Azula said, “Well, I hardly belong to anyone. I am my own.”

“No,” Ty Lee said.

Azula arched an eyebrow. “No?”

“No,” Ty Lee said. The night’s adrenalin rush made her daring. “You’re mine.”

The first time she kissed Azula it had been a little mischievous, a little impulsive. Now she kissed Azula a second time and it was more deliberate. It was a righteous action. Azula was hers to kiss.

Judging by the way she kissed back, Azula agreed.

* * *

The earthbender committed suicide before he could be interrogated. Ozai called a war council, and now that she was seventeen, Azula was allowed to join. Ty Lee was not.

When Azula left, she was grinning. “Ty Lee, I need you to write to Mai. Tell her to come back to the capital. I’m preparing an invasion force to attack Ba Sing Se.”

So Ty Lee wrote.

She wondered whether Mai would come or not. But Mai did. You didn’t disobey Azula, not when she ordered you. That was why Ty Lee had protected Mai from being ordered to serve Azula as her handmaiden—things could easily have gotten ugly. But Mai came, and although she was still as grumpy as ever, she at least seemed to have little animus against Azula. Whatever resentment she’d held over Azula staying the favorite in the capital while Zuko was hurt and banished and not intervening when he was outlawed, it seemed to be mostly laid to rest. Perhaps in light of his recent crimes, Mai had given up on him.

“It’s been ages since I’ve done anything this interesting,” she said to Ty Lee, and Ty Lee giggled.

Azula’s plan for attack against Ba Sing Se wasn’t any more elegant or clever than Iroh’s was when he was still the Dragon of the West. It just utilized better technology. But if you had it, might as well.

“The drill has been made by the finest technicians in the Fire Nation and includes the most recent ideas found in the Earth Kingdom as well,” General Zheng said as they discussed plans. “We’ve been keeping it very quiet and although it is currently being assembled at one of our Earth Kingdom colonies, as far as we know no knowledge of it has yet reached Ba Sing Se. They will be unprepared, and they will, at long last, fall.”

“No one is every prepared for me,” Azula said haughtily. Ty Lee kissed her on the cheek. She’d been doing that more and more lately, and it always shocked her that Azula let her get away with it.

Even in a balloon ship it took a few weeks to travel down to where the drill had been assembled. Azula and Mai and Ty Lee all flew in the same ship, but Ty Lee and Azula slept in the same room, in the same bed, while Mai slept elsewhere. Their camaraderie was beginning to form again, but there was still a lot of awkwardness. Mai still looked a little skeptical whenever she saw Ty Lee draped over Azula’s shoulders when they sat next to each other, or Azula’s arm around Ty Lee’s waist, and while Ty Lee got that (Mai had always been wary of Azula, like it or not), and Azula…didn’t actually seem to have noticed it, it still created a certain distance between them.

“Tell me about how your family’s been,” Azula would ask, and Mai would spout some bullshit about how bored she’d been and never talk about her actual worries. They were there somewhere, underneath the surface—she wasn’t as eager to fight or as relaxed as she pretended. But she and Azula would pretend they were fine and ready for battle until the world ended, and Ty Lee would be left sitting in the middle of the static.

 When they landed at the base where the drill was located, Azula inspected every inch of it, Mai and Ty Lee by her side. At last she announced it to be in working condition (as if she or they knew anything about drilling technology) and said they would be leaving to attack Ba Sing Se as soon as possible.

“Haste makes waste, your highness,” Zheng admonished her.

She gave him a look. “And ambling along never accomplishes anything. Ba Sing Se should have been razed years ago. But I’m glad it wasn’t.” She smiled sharply. “This victory, our nation’s crowning victory, will be mine.”

Ty Lee might have called such talk delusions of grandeur, but with Azula they were never delusions. She knew what she could do. If she could already hear musicians singing songs in her honor, that was a prophecy and not a dream.

They shared a tent on the march towards Ba Sing Se. And the day before the actual attack, for the first time perhaps ever, Azula actually let Ty Lee help her dress.

“You and I will fight together today,” she said when they were finished. “Are you excited, Ty Lee?”

“I can’t wait.”

Azula kissed her, long and hard, sucking the breath out of her very mouth. “Ever since we stopped that lowborn Earth assassin at my birthday, I’ve been wanting this,” she murmured. Her voice was rough with a desire that wasn’t quite for Ty Lee but wasn’t quite not, either. “I knew that all my years of preparation were nothing. I wanted a real enemy to fight. And I wanted you by my side.” She pulled Ty Lee in for one more kiss, then shoved her away and said, “You and Mai, of course. Get ready. We mount the drill in an hour.”

Clinging to the sides of the drill as it moved toward the city was a precarious position. Mai seemed comfortable, casual. Azula was grinning. Ty Lee tried to match her grin and hide her own nerves. Today would be a great day in Fire Nation history. But Agni, it was her first real battle, and she wished the stakes weren’t quite so high.

Then again, with Azula by her side, she couldn’t quite be afraid either. The danger almost didn’t seem real. All that existed was Azula staring out over her shoulder at the wall of the city, the thunderous rumble of the drill, and a blue, endless sky above.

Then, as they approached the wall of the city, men came storming out in uniform. Ty Lee had never seen a full contingent of the Earth Kingdom army before. But they’d been informed of who these men were. The Terra Team, the force that guarded Ba Sing Se’s outer walls from attackers. A small force in recent years—Ba Sing Se had already forgotten the terror Iroh used to bring down on them. Now a team of only a handful of men were coming at the drill as if they alone could be enough.

Even with their earthbending it was laughable, and Azula did indeed laugh. She glanced at Ty Lee wickedly and at her nod, Ty Lee jumped from the side of the drill.

Frankly, she was happy to just get off the thing. Its vibrations were destroying her own vibes.

Her chi blocking style was as suitable for a melee as for one on one if not better. She targeted arms, chests and necks—necks most prominently, as it was hard to target other pressure points through the uniforms. The earthbenders lunged and hollered, but she was too close among them for them to effectively use their bending. She was better suited for this job than even Azula would have been (not that she would ever say that, of course).

Azula was still laughing when Ty Lee climbed back onto the drill. “They think this is some sort of game! They’re right in a way, though.” She tossed her head back. “As yet, we’re only playing.”

The tip of the drill hit the wall with a crunch, but it barely slowed. Rock began to slough off to either side. And Azula stared straight ahead, as if she could already see through the wall and into the city.

The wall was thick. New earthbenders came to stand on top of it and launched boulder after boulder down at it, forcing Azula, Ty Lee and Mai to go inside the drill for a while on occasion. All of this was to no avail. It only took six hours for the drill to cut right into the city, and another hour for the hole in the wall to grow to ten feet across, with the height as high as the wall itself. The pile of rubble was probably enough stone to build an entire house.

It was getting dark. Some soldiers spoke of taking a break. Azula said, “We have achieved marvels today. Those who would grasp the future must grab it with both hands. Follow me.” She exited the drill and walked towards the wall’s wreckage. “We can’t allow those fools the time to recuperate.”

Ty Lee was tired herself. But she followed Azula into the charge, with Mai flanking Azula’s other side. The three of them and the squadron of soldiers they had with them rushed through the breach, Azula exploding all boulders headed their way. The earthbenders nearby yelled, “It’s her! The pink girl!”

They scattered, leaving only a few to fight, who Mai took down this time. She only killed one of them—mostly she aimed her knives to wound, but maybe sitting in a vibrating drill for seven hours had messed with her temper.

Within a period of an hour, they had cleared out a large area around the breach. _Then_ they made camp for the night. Azula ordered the tents to be set up inside and stood around, just watching.

“This is so crazy!” Ty Lee said, stifling a yawn. “We did something even Iroh couldn’t do.”

“Iroh was weak, we all know that,” Azula said dismissively. “We’ve only penetrated one wall.”

“What we did with one, we can do again.” Ty Lee stood on her hands. They were wobbly—it really had been a long day. “Have they set up our tent?”

“You tire out so easily, Ty Lee.” Azula sighed. “Fine. I’ll…”

Someone tapped on Azula’s shoulder. Azula spun, almost attacking them. But it was only one of the soldiers. He said, “Your highness, there is someone here to see you.”

“What?” Azula’s eyes narrowed. “An envoy from the Fire Nation? Or does the Earth Kingdom seek to parlay?”

“…neither, your highness. It’s an Earth Kingdom citizen. He says his loyalties are with the Fire Nation and he has information you may find to be of use.”

“Interesting.” Azula looked at Ty Lee.

Mai said, “We could use good intel.”

She didn’t often offer advice, or any comments, really. Azula nodded. “Very well. I’m bringing Mai and Ty Lee back to my tent. Bring him to speak to me there.”

When the soldier had scuttled off, Azula said, “How did an Earth Kingdom citizen get so near our encampment? The soldiers should have stopped him.”

“I guess he’s a skilled spy,” Ty Lee said. “It’s exciting, isn’t it?”

Azula shook her head. “I’ll admit it might be interesting.”

The tent set up for them was only a bit better than standard. It had cushions and a small stove meant to fuel Azula’s firebending—like she needed it. She sat down, and Mai and Ty Lee sat down on either side of her.

The soldier came in. “We’ve brought him.”

“Then bring him in.”

A man in Earth Kingdom robes was shoved into the tent. He didn’t stumble, though, easily finding his footing and straightening. Azula and Mai froze, and Ty Lee stared.

Maybe it was simply because it had been some years that the soldiers here had forgotten him. But it was ludicrous to think that this man could ever be an Earth Kingdom citizen.

Mai was the first to speak, her voice a little higher than usual. “Zuko?”

He had changed. He was taller than he’d been at fifteen, when he was banished, and his hair was now cut short rather than held up in a topknot. Above all there was that scar on his face, which none of them had ever seen except in pictures on wanted posters. He was not the boy who had been banished anymore.

Still, he had the same stubborn jawline and cheekbones, and the same glinting yellow eyes as Azula. He looked down at Azula, who was still seated, and waited for her to speak. It seemed the years had taught him patience.

Azula said, “You are an outlaw.” Ty Lee could feel her body trembling even from inches away. “Why have you come before me? I should have you arrested. Or.” She clenched her fists. “I could kill you.”

“I have important information about Ba Sing Se,” Zuko said. His voice had gotten lower in the passing years, or else Ty Lee had remembered it wrongly. “I hoped that you might use me.” He bowed his head. “My loyalty is to the Fire Nation, as it always has been.”

“Am I supposed to trust a traitor?”

“You know I’m bad at lying.” Zuko raised his head again. “I have a strategy that will help you win.”

“I don’t need help.”

“No. But I still have to offer it.” Zuko knelt. “My honor has always dictated that I serve our people. For a while I was running away from my fate. But now you’re here, where I least expected the Fire Nation to come. I can’t avoid my duty. I must either serve you or be taken as your prisoner.”

Azula said, “This isn’t a good time, Zuko.”

“Azula,” Zuko said, “please.”

Azula wasn’t known for mercy. Ty Lee wasn’t known for interfering with her harshness. They both had a reputation to protect. So they sat, still a little stunned.

Mai said, “We don’t exactly have a plan beyond using the drill.”

Azula cast her a sharp look.

“What?” Mai said. “We can use any help we can get. If this idiot squadron can’t even recognize a Fire Nation prince, they clearly won’t be very helpful.”

Azula sighed. “Well, I am surrounded by imbeciles. Fine, Zuko. Get off the floor. Give me your precious information.”

* * *

Zuko’s intel was surprisingly useful.

“You’re telling me the Earth King doesn’t even rule in Ba Sing Se?” Azula said.

“He thinks he does. But everything is controlled by the Dai Li,” Zuko said. “I’ve only been here a couple months, but I’ve almost been arrested multiple times. They’re very good at what they do.”

“Multiple times? You never stop causing trouble, Zuko.”

Zuko snorted.

“So taking out the Earth King isn’t good enough,” Azula mused. She cocked her head. “Well, my initial plan was just to burn the city down anyway.”

“You won’t have a city for the Fire Nation to rule then,” Zuko argued. “Ba Sing Se is the height of non-Fire Nation culture. Our flag should fly over this city while it is still intact.”

“You’re attached to it, aren’t you?”

Zuko shrugged. “I just want what’s best for the Fire Nation.”

“Of course.” Azula steepled her fingers. “Well, now. It seems we’re playing against the Dai Li’s master. I can’t resist a good game. You say they like to deny the war exists at all?” She pursed her lips into a pout. “Well, that’s just a point of pride.”

Zuko said, “The Dai Li are a hard force to beat. With the men you have now, it would be impossible.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Zuzu.”

Zuko bowed his head again. “Again, I’m just giving advice.”

“We could face the Dai Li head on and win,” Azula said. “Don’t underestimate me.” She smiled. “But like you said, it’s more fun to capture them intact, isn’t it?”

The first part of the new plan was capturing a single member of the Dai Li. For this, Ty Lee and Zuko worked together with Mai while Azula continued to supervise the forces. They all dressed in Earth Kingdom robes. Then, close to the center of town, Zuko and Mai began to shout at each other about how Ba Sing Se was a failing, falling nightmare and the Fire Nation was closing in on them.

People in the streets looked nervous. Most began to leave. Mai yelled louder and louder, overturning a table and throwing it straight at Zuko, who blocked and went for her throat. As they began to brawl, a tall, thin man in green robes stepped out of a corner.

“Please calm yourselves,” he intoned. Rock began to levitate at his feet.

Ty Lee moved.

She’d been sitting on a rooftop watching the fun, hidden from sight. She’d seen the agent approaching, and she’d waited for him to come close. It was too bad there was only one. That made this much too easy.

She dropped down from the roof and hit his pressure points, starting on the back and moving to the arms and neck, knocking him unconscious. Mai and Zuko immediately stopped fighting. They took off the hat that identified him as a Dai Li agent, draped him over their shoulders, and smuggled him back through the city to Azula’s base.

There, he was tied hand and foot before Ty Lee hit the pressure point that generally woke people up. He came awake in a flare of alertness. He was well trained; he barely flinched to find himself staring into Azula’s eyes.

“I heard you say there is no war in Ba Sing Se,” Azula said. “But I’ve brought a little taste of the war to you.” She stood. “Would you like something to drink? Chi blocking can really take it out of you.”

“I am not afraid of you,” the man said.

It was the worst thing he could have said, really, if he wanted to pretend to be strong. Azula chuckled. “You shouldn’t be. I’m your friend.” She leaned down and stroked his sweaty hair. “Ba Sing Se is falling, and your leader can’t stop that. But I’m giving you a chance to save yourself from the wreck instead of crumbling alongside it.”

“What?”

“I’m not going to interrogate you,” Azula said. “I’m not even going to threaten you. I want to offer you an opportunity. Dai Li are supposed to be smart. I know you’ll side with the winner.”

They talked. Azula only held him for a couple hours. And the next night Ty Lee and Mai and Zuko set out to do it again.

They started receiving reports from defecters. Information. The leader’s name was Long Feng. He had a base under Lake Laogai, which bordered the city. He had a large army of Dai Li, and their earthbending skills were considerable, but their loyalty? Not so much.

“They were brought up to serve a leader who was not their ruler,” Azula said. “Of course they have no reason to stay with him when he’s faltering.”

Meanwhile, the drill had brought them through another ring of the city. They had gained the lower rings of Ba Sing Se. Soldiers patrolled the streets. Azula sent for reinforcements, but not for many. As she told Ty Lee, if they really could win the Dai Li over, they wouldn’t need too many of their own men to patrol at all.

The second part of the plan came two whole months later. Two months of living first in a tent, then in an abandoned shop with a broken wall. Two months of Ty Lee curling up beside Azula in bed, wrapping her arms around her. Two months of Zuko being sometimes around and sometimes not—he was only ever around for part of the day, and his only explanation was “I have a job at a teashop on an upper tier.”

“A teashop, hm?” Azula asked, eyebrows raised. “You actually know how to make tea, Zuzu?”

Zuko flushed. He still didn’t explain himself.

“He’s our ears,” Mai said, “he needs to be in position.”

Azula shrugged. “I’m just teasing. Do what you need to do, brother.”

In bed she confided in Ty Lee, “I think Iroh is with Zuko.”

Iroh had vanished at the same time as Zuko. He hadn’t been proclaimed an outlaw until it was realized he was helping Zuko; now he was officially called a defecter.

“I mean, if there’s one sign of Iroh’s presence, it’s tea,” Azula said.

“What are you going to do about it?” Ty Lee asked.

“Nothing. I don’t know why Zuko won’t bring Iroh to see us. But it doesn’t matter.” Azula yawned. “This city will be mine. Uncle can watch me succeed where he failed.”

When the second part of the plan came into play, though, Zuko’s teashop became the way in to the upper rings of the city—and even into the palace. The Dai Li dropped hints to the king, Kuei, of an excellent teashop on the upper ring, and he asked that tea be brought to him. And of course, Zuko arranged for Azula, Ty Lee and Mai to have uniforms. They took the tray and headed in.

Kuei smiled absent mindedly at the four of them when they entered the throne room. “I love trying new brands of tea. I hear your flavors are exquisite.”

Azula tossed her head. “I’ve been told they’re a bit spicy.”

She nodded to Ty Lee and Mai.

There were a couple non-Dai Li guards in the throne room that they hadn’t managed to suborn. Ty Lee knocked one out and Mai handled the other. Azula stepped forward and grabbed Kuei’s throat. “Your city is mine,” she said. “Ba Sing Se is now under command of the Fire Nation.”

Kuei only stared at her.

Zuko said, “Um, if it might help, your majesty, you can still have a cup of tea.”

Azula laughed. “Fine idea.” She hefted Kuei off the throne and threw him towards Zuko, who was still holding the tea tray. Ty Lee caught him before he crashed. “We have a few minutes to spare. From what I’ve heard, you’re harmless, anyway. I might even keep you as a figurehead.” She sat down on the throne.

Kuei nervously took a cup of tea from Zuko. “I must say, I’m very confused.”

“It’s just an early retirement,” Ty Lee said brightly. “Don’t take it too hard.”

The Dai Li stormed in minutes later. They walked in a tight square squadron. At their front and center stood Long Feng. It was the first time any of the four had seen him face to face.

“Long Feng,” Kuei said. “Please help. These people broke in here…”

“They will be taken care of, your majesty,” Long Feng said. To Azula he said, “You disturb our peace.”

“The Fire Nation is bringing a new era of peace and prosperity,” Azula shot back.

“Not while I’m alive,” Long Feng growled. “Dai Li, seize her.”

The two Dai Li agents closest to Long Feng grabbed his arms and put them behind his back. While he gaped, Ty Lee darted forward and blocked his chi. He flopped to the ground.

“The king is a decent figurehead,” Azula said coolly. “You, I have no use for.” She nodded to Mai.

Mai walked forward and quickly, quietly, cut Long Feng’s throat. The blood sprayed onto her robes, but they were green and brown anyway. She would probably never wear them again.

She walked over to Zuko’s side, and Zuko squeezed her hand. The one that wasn’t holding a bloody blade.

Kuei was gaping.

“Don’t bother mourning him,” Azula said. “He was a traitor. He deceived you, and his incompetence let me in.”

“Long Feng,” Kuei whispered.

Azula shook her head. She looked at the Dai Li. “Let my men in to every ring of the city. And take down the Earth Kingdom flags. My men will give you Fire Nation flags to replace them.”

Iroh never made an appearance.

Azula had a festival that lasted a week, using all the resources of the royal palace. When that was through, she finished it off by announcing that a pardon had arrived for Zuko from the capital, at her request. He was no longer an outlaw; he was still not allowed on Fire Nation soil.

She finished the announcement by proclaiming that Zuko would be the new governor of Ba Sing Se, and Kuei would govern by his side. Public opinion in Ba Sing Se wasn’t exactly positive about any of but years of oppressive rule made the city too unwilling or too weak to revolt. As for Zuko, he was shocked that Azula would be so kind.

“It’s great what you’re doing for Zuko,” Ty Lee said in private.

“It will keep him out of trouble,” Azula said, “and help him remember who lifted him up.” She shrugged. “No one will ever rally behind him when Father and I are against him, and while he supports us. And after this, I don’t think he’ll want to rebel. I’m planning for the future.”

So she made it out to be a purely tactical move. But Ty Lee still couldn’t help but smile about it. Azula, after all, had no reputation for mercy or generosity. If she wanted to pretend this was practical, Ty Lee wouldn’t get in her way.

Mai told Azula she would stay in Ba Sing Se with Zuko. Azula agreed that she could do so temporarily. Azula herself was returning to the capital.

“Father will have more for me to do,” she said.

Again, Ty Lee didn’t question her. It was none of her business if Azula didn’t want to admit that she missed being home.

They went home. There were celebrations all over again. People praised Azula’s name to the heavens, comparing her from everything from Iroh’s second coming (which would make her laugh) to Agni himself (which would make her preen). She was given the second highest seat at the war council. Ozai himself said she had done well, though he might perhaps doubt her choice in governor.

Ty Lee stood through parties and ceremonies at Azula’s side until she was almost bored of them. Yet, when she saw the pride in Azula’s shoulders, she was never quite bored. It was good to see Azula happy.

But she had gone back to sleeping in the room beside Azula’s. Azula was everywhere in her life. Sometimes, she needed a break.

* * *

A hand touched Ty Lee’s neck in the middle of the night. She came awake slowly. Perhaps because she recognized the hand by its very calluses, or by the brimstone and jasmine smell of Azula’s skin. She blinked herself into wakefulness, and realized the hand was trembling.

She sat up.

Azula was sitting by the side of her bed. She stared out the window. “Father summoned me today.”

Even half asleep Ty Lee remembered that tomorrow was the seventh anniversary of Ozai’s rule. There would be a festival, of course, and much official business conducted as well. So it was no surprise Azula would be summoned to speak to him. But Ty Lee nodded. Azula, looking away, didn’t see it.

“He said that he was going to be making an announcement tomorrow, changing his title from fire lord to Phoenix King. He rules not only the Fire Nation but the world.”

Semantics, but it probably made a political point. This kind of politics was not Ty Lee’s forte.

“And he said he would make me fire lord under him,” Azula said. “If I could prove myself worthy.”

She didn’t continue.

Ty Lee said quietly, “How are you supposed to prove yourself worthy, Azula?”

“I am supposed to show I am not attached to foolish things, like he believes me to be attached.” Azula reached her hand out to touch Ty Lee’s neck again. This time she met her eyes. “He said that I should kill you.”

Ty Lee said, “Oh.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Ty Lee half expected the hand on her neck to crackle with lightning every second. But it didn’t.

“Azula,” she said, “do you know why we haven’t had sex yet?”

“That doesn’t seem to be on topic, Ty Lee.”

“It is.”

Azula shrugged. “I never really wanted to.”

Ty Lee laughed quietly. “That’s not true. You do, sometimes. You’re just afraid to ask for anything, so you wait for me to do it. Like you used to be afraid to kiss me. Like you used to say you chose me as your handmaiden because I was the best for the position, not because we were friends.”

“I’m not afraid,” Azula said.

“You are afraid,” Ty Lee said. “You’re afraid wanting me makes you weak. You’re afraid to let yourself love me. You always have been.” She shrugged, feeling Azula’s hand move with her body. “So, if your father is right, and you really don’t love me, you can kill me. Or you can show that you do love me, and you aren’t afraid to want something for yourself.”

Azula’s hand tightened on Ty Lee’s neck. Then it went limp, and for the first time in her life, Ty Lee saw Azula cry.

Still, even as Ty Lee held her, she couldn’t say it. Ty Lee stroked her hair and murmured comforting things. But when Azula ran out of sobs, Ty Lee pushed her upright again.

“You have three choices, Azula,” she said. “The first is that you kill me.”

Azula hissed, “How can you say that?”

“The second is that you give up on being the fire lord. We can run away together, or we can see if your father will try to have me killed by someone else. He might.” Ty Lee shrugged. “He really does want you to be his heir, you know.”

“What is the third option?” Azula asked, quiet and still.

“I think you already know.”

* * *

The eight anniversary of Ozai’s assumption to power came with a violent dawning. Ozai was found in bed with giant knife wounds in his chest, blood soaking the sheets. The guards said they hadn’t even heard anything.

Festivities, of course, were cancelled.

Azula was crowned fire lord in a solemn ceremony. Ty Lee stood by her side as support. Her speech afterward to the gathered nobles and dignitaries was simple: that the Fire Nation’s rule would continue to be glorious under her. That today was a day for mourning, but Ozai would have wanted them to remain strong and proud. That his death would, of course, be investigated and, in due time, avenged. And it was probably the work of a rebel. After all, any Fire Nation assassin would have been neater about it.

A couple weeks later, Azula announced that Ty Lee would be her queen consort. This probably caused as much stir as the murder. Several nobles who had been hoping Azula might marry one of them or one of their sons sent in complaints. Azula ignored them all. Only one went so far as bringing it up in a previously scheduled meeting, and she informed him that to speak against a fire lord’s betrothed was tantamount to treason.

Mai returned to the capital. She bore with her a sorrowful letter of support from Zuko. “He sent me to stand with you and protect you,” she said to Azula. “I am here if you need me.”

Azula kept her on as her bodyguard. She did not take back Zuko’s banishment. It was the worst possible time for another candidate for the throne to be in the capital—best for him to stay away.

In private, she was erratic. She would not speak of Ozai to Ty Lee at length, and she especially wouldn’t talk about that night. She talked about matters of state, mostly. And there were enough of those to keep both her and Ty Lee very busy.

And she barely touched Ty Lee. And when she did, she almost flinched.

Ty Lee didn’t ask her about it. Azula had proved her love for Ty Lee, had let herself care more about Ty Lee than about even her loyalty to the Fire Nation, to her father. This was the fallout, and Ty Lee could only be there for her.

Then one night Azula called her out of her room and into Azula’s.

“I want to have sex,” Azula said much too quickly.

Ty Lee gaped. Azula’s face was much too fierce for the words, much too intense. Then she said, “Okay. I kind of do too.”

She stripped while Azula contined to watch her with that same intense expression. Then she pulled Azula’s clothes off little by little, Azula barely helping. When they were both naked and Azula still looked ready to storm Ba Sing Se all over again, she kissed Azula gently on the lips and said, “You’re sure you want this?”

“Yes.”

Ty Lee put her hands on Azula’s bare thighs. They were trembling. “Are you afraid of me?”

Azula swallowed. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

Ty Lee sighed. “Of course not.”

She kissed Azula harder, and Azula kissed back. They had made out many, many times, though generally with their clothes on, yet Azula still seemed unsure. She let Ty Lee lead.

Ty Lee, frankly, had no idea what she was doing either. But over the years her sisters had sometimes dropped by and told her juicy tidbits, and she knew how to pleasure herself, and what at least turned Azula on. She nipped along Azula’s neck and put her hand between Azula’s legs, and did as best as she could. She fondled, she stroked, she coaxed, until her hand was wet with Azula’s desire, until Azula, panting and trembling, came apart.

And they tried again and again and again. It kept them up all night, but neither of them minded that.

General Zheng nodded approvingly when Azula came into the war council the next morning with bruises on her throat. “I’m glad you’re remembering to relax, my lord. Even a fire lord is human.”

Azula, in front of the entire war council, lightly blushed. Ty Lee patted her on the back, which made the councilors exchange amused glances.

“You see,” Mai said to Ty Lee one evening, when they were walking in the garden and Azula was busy with other things, “I would have made a terrible handmaiden.”

“Well, I’m not _really_ Azula’s handmaiden anymore.”

“Oh? What are you?”

“I’m her lover,” Ty Lee said with a grin, and Mai shook her head.

Four months into the first year of the reign of Azula, Ty Lee was officially named queen consort and Azula’s wife. The ceremony was held in the garden.

“It’s where I first met you,” Azula said, “when you came climbing over the wall when we both were only four.” The listening nobles all nodded and smiled, clearly thinking it was very romantic. But Azula smirked at Ty Lee, and Ty Lee laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> To Selden: You had a lot of nice and more specific prompts but you started with "courtly machinations and dystopian Fire Nation goings-on" and I was like...what more could you want...hence this fic. I hope you enjoyed! I fucking love Azula.  
> To all the rest of you: I'm sorry about the title. I had a more standard title once. Then I was shopping for pants at Kohls and this stupid one came to me. I'm lying though. I'm not sorry.


End file.
